Summer days, drifting away . . .

I have been trying for some time to post these photos. But every time I look at them I get so sad and so nostalgic for Summer. Autumn is here. The days are shorter and cooler. The sun's slant is changing. There's a crispness to the air that hints at colder days, turning leaves, and long, long hours of darkness. I am grieving. Fall and winter don't have much to offer, in my opinion, say what you will about cozy nights and lazy rainy days.

In July, a group of us decided to have a little bike ride around Clear Lake (located in Lake County). Not just a bike ride. A bike ride on Steroids. Bettina and I rode up on Friday to a campsite (and sat around waiting for our buddies), checked out the area, welcomed all our friends, then we all had dinner together, slept, got up early (ha ha) and went to ride around the Lake. Came back, ate more food, floated a little on the river by the campsite, and then slept on the ground again, getting up to have a slow day of floating, playing, and finally packing up to go home.

So Bettina and I headed out and she said, "I need to stop along the way at a bank." No problem, we're riding through Woodland, a pretty big town/city/whatever. about 3 minutes later she says, "There something wrong with my bike."
A flat.

Four miles in.

She decided we should stop in Woodland so she could pump up her tire all the way and a get a new spare tube. Plus the bank. Between you and me, I think she just wanted to spend the day in Woodland.
We had a great ride along the river, through Woodland (once we got out), and then out into the Capay Valley.
A lovely day -- through some sleepy towns. It was about 145 degrees that day.

I didn't get a good look at this marker. But it must be marking something.

I think I just liked this building because it says "Road Trip."

Word. [This photo was difficult to take and yes, I see I didn't get it in focus. The next photo in my camera was of the road and fence -- take just before I swerved to stay on the road. Yes. Should not be taking photos while riding.

Up ahead? Cache Creek Casino!

An oasis, really. With the best gas station-turned-rest stop EVER. The coldest water. The coolest air conditioning. . .

And a stellar line-up.

See what I mean?

Not just another photo from the road! This is one of the rest stops along the NCAC. It's a fire station where we have lunch on the third day -- but on NCAC, we're coming from the other direction.

Getting to Rumsey means we're almost there. Phew.

I dig riding into a time and place where payphones still exist.

Made it to Rumsey. Now just up this last little hill. . .

Ha! Made it! After I bonked, we pulled into the wrong site, and I decided I was not ever going to ride again, and Bettina telling me to eat something and that we were almost there.

Doesn't this water look good? We were completely out of water and almost out of food (except for the much-talked-about vegan, gluten free cinnamon rolls that are purported to taste better than they sound). Bettina went over to the campsite across from ours and had this brief conversation:
"Hey, do you think we could have a couple of bottles of water?"
"Uh, what do you want?"
"Just a couple of bottles of water."
"Oh, water. I thought you said beer. You can have all the water you want."

Self-congratulatory 'we kicked some major butt today' photo.

Setting up the tents. (Jana arrived first, she will be quick to tell you. First and me and Bettina that is). Jana and Bettina were setting up their tents and I was sitting at the picnic table drinking water and eating something amazing that Jana had brought (watermelon?). Bettina asked me if I was going to set up my tent. I told her I didn't feel like setting up my tent and I was going to try my luck with waiting for Emily to show up and see if she would do it. Bettina said, "Ha! Emily's not going to set up your tent!"

Oh! Look -- it was watermelon! It's here in this photo. And Jana is pleased as punch with herself for 1) being first and 2) bringing amazing food to save Bettina and me from drinking our neighbors water and then eating them for dessert.

Mindy! Our gang is getting bigger. A little picnic on the grass while we wait . . .

The first dog arrives. . . cleaning up spilled food. And she brought Emily . . .

Who set up my tent! Ha!

While Bettina struggled with her own. . . even after 62 miles of riding.

Roasting peppers.

On the move -- got to check out the river.

Living on the edge.

Cutest.

Maybe it's a shared title.

Whatever it was, it looks yummy.

Music by lamplight.

Breakfast . . . mostly just the production that was The Coffee.

And here we have the famous cinnamon rolls that we all heard SO much about.

They got infested by ants. It was all rather devastating.

And on to the riding!

Not too shabby! 5 in a self-portrait!

One of the smaller lakes after a killer uphill and a screaming downhill.

So basically: 'just keep moving on.'

Classy! Breakfast? No! Just a quick bathroom and stretch break.

So . . . um. . . well . . . I was riding along, riding up this not-steep, but never-ending hill, and sort of saw something on the road, rolled over it with my back tire, and realized that what looked like a little 'nothing' on the road was actually a ketchup packet and I hit it squarely so it burst . . .
All over Jana. The only part of the story that Jana knew was that she was suddenly squirted with liquid all over and on closer inspected, it was red.
"WHAT IS THAT??"
A reasonable response. I had to pull over so I could give the laughing some space as Jana tried to process what was going on. It seems like even after I told her it was ketchup, she still secretly believed it was squirrel guts or something.

No matter where you go . . .

Rest stop.

Gotta love Clear Lake.

A quick stop for some cold, sometimes blended, much-needed drinks.

And we're back. These girls jumped in the car and took off before I could get a celebratory photo. 65 miles!

Emily was my ride, so she stuck around for the obligatory photo.

Taming the pack. There was a total of 6 dogs for the weekend (Real Feel: 27).

Emily and Ripley in their deluxe accommodations.

Hee hee

Wake up face?

And then there's this one. . .

Another quick story. There aren't any photos of the day's events -- floating down Cache Creek was too dangerous for the camera. But we were packing up breakfast and figuring out who was going to float, who would stay with the 27 dogs, and how many rafts we had. Bettina took it upon herself to count the number of rafts and report back so she could compare the result with the number of eligible floaters. She came over after the count and announced, "We have 7 buttholes!" [Meaning of course that there were enough rafts to put 7 butts . . . ] Priceless.

So . . . shall we set a date for next summer? We're definitely doing that again! I don't know why there are not photos of Anita and Lisa. I'm sure they will show up in the next trip's photos . . . coming soon!

I've got to get back to my pouting now. This better be a good Autumn/Winter.